ASHTABULA--Inspired by the year of protest that began in North Africa and reached the US as the Occupy movement, the Air Staff of Erie Looking Productions purchased a block of shortwave airtime to protest the Stop Online Piracy Act which could radically break the Internet as it is currently understood.

"This past year has shown how a media strategy encompassing the use of multiple platforms is the best way to survive. As evidenced by the Internet blackouts seen in North Africa at the start of this year, the network of networks known as the Information Superhighway seems to be riddled with potholes. With the Stop Online Piracy Act potentially having a chilling effect on the part of our planet's knowledge ecology known as the Internet, it is prudent to look at alternatives. WBCQ is rather firmly committed to the freedom of speech and is an excellent platform for our New Year's Eve Special." Head Writer Stephen Michael Kellat said.

A special release of the podcast LISTen: An LISNews.org Program as well as our debut on this alternative media platform will take place on New Year's Eve 2011.

The broadcast will last one hour and will air on WBCQ, a shortwave radio station based in the Maine community of Monticello. Shortwave listeners can tune to the station at 5,110 kHz on December 31st at 6 PM Eastern Standard Time (11 PM Coordinated Universal Time) to hear the program. The broadcast will be licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License to encourage recording off the air and mirroring. A podcast release will be made via LISNews.org only after the transmission concludes via WBCQ. Primary station coverage includes the eastern seaboard of North America, North Africa, and Western Europe.

Shortwave radios are available from a variety of consumer electronics retailers to allow one to hear the special over-the-air. Receptions reports via e-mail will be sought and should be sent to [email protected].

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For more information please contact the Air Staff of Erie Looking Productions via e-mail at [email protected].